The Balance II
by bearhug562000
Summary: Neil’s dark side starts to make her move…
1. Prologue

The Balance II

Rating: R

Summary: Neil's dark side starts to make her move…

Disclaimer: I don't own the Buffy and Angel characters, but the other characters and the story are mine.

Special Note: This takes place a couple of days after the first story.

* * *

"I can see why you always looked so bored on patrol on TV. They aren't exactly hopping out of the woodwork, are they?" Helen asked.

"Nope, they're hop-free." Buffy replied. "Those vamps, they're wacky like that. No offense, but I thought you would be patrolling with that really tall studly boyfriend of yours. Um, what's-his-name. I want to say…Nathan?"

"Neptune. It's his turn to watch over Neil tonight. The doctors say he still needs more bed rest."

"Still? But he's of the good?"

"Yeah. He's just completely exhausted after all the energy he expended because of Ethan."

"We shouldn't have to worry about him anymore. His chaos-worshipping butt is in the ol' pokey now. And good riddance."

"I hope he remembers to not bend over in the shower to pick up the soap. Listen to me. That's something Athena would say."

"Um, okay. Are Athena and Faith still-?" Buffy made a running motion with her fingers.

"Stuck together like glue. Athena and Faith are having happy Faithgasms and Athenagasms together."

"Way too much info."

"Speaking of significant others…" Helen gave Buffy a meaningful look.

"Not you too! What is this, guilt-trip Buffy week?!"

"Every week is guilt-trip Buffy week. It's a holiday that just never goes away."

"How wonderful."

"You'll get over it. You really should tell, you know."

"Can we focus on the patrolling please? You know, for vampires? Not my conscience?"

"Don't be testy, Miss Sarcasm. I just- we're up. Well, they are."

Buffy followed Helen's gaze to a couple of vamps erupting from their graves.

They raced toward the disoriented undead, stakes raised.

* * *

"I just don't trust her. I mean, I could use the Internet to scare up a ton of help." Mr. Trick said.

"Well, I don't trust her either. But she did get me the Books of Ascension, free of charge. And all she had to do was slice up one little demon. So, you can't doubt her efficiency." The Mayor replied.

"Not her efficiency I'm doubtin', it's her loyalty."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Mr. Trick. I have safeguards in place. Safeguards she will never see coming. Safeguards that are just super! So, don't worry your little head about it!" The Mayor made that weird chipper chuckle of his and walked away. Mr. Trick watched him go and sighed in annoyance.

"Got evil Mr. Rogers on one side and some red-headed psycho on the other. How do I get myself in this wacked-out shit?"

Shaking his head, he left the Mayor's office and closed the door behind him, unaware of the shadows watching his every move. When Mr. Trick was gone, the shadows stretched and from their dark depths emerged a now all-too familiar shape, and the darkness let her go almost grudgingly.

Safeguards are only effective if you know what to guard against, dear Richard. she thought. She held out her hand and formed a ball of energy. Neptune and a sleeping Neil were visible inside the shimmering globe.

"Soon. All too soon." she smiled. She traced Neil's figure in the globe with her fingers.

"And then I'll have you and never let you go. Never."

Dismissing the ball with a gesture, she strode, if not almost slithered down the hallway.

And the shadows rolled and followed her in sinister obeisance.

(Insert Buffy Credits Here. Heh.)


	2. Chapter 1

Willow was working on her laptop when a dark shadow loomed over her, full of hate and malice. She looked up and gulped.

"H-hi, Principal Snyder." Willow squeaked.

"Rosenberg. Now what might you be doing?"

"Working on homework?"

"Really." He grabbed her laptop and pulled it around, stared at the screen, and then returned it to her.

"Well, you don't seem to be doing anything wrong, but yesterday someone thought it would be amusing to infect our computers with a virus that did nothing but show lesbian porn over and over again. It was damn hard to get rid of. Very sophisticated virus. Of course it was the kind of prank a high school student would pull. A brainy one. Like you, for example."

"But I don't even watch porn! It gives me hives!"

"Every high school kid watches porn. It's a statistical fact. I've got my eye on you, Rosenberg. You're my top suspect since you hang around with that Buffy Summers. She's a bad influence, a troublemaker. Which makes you one by default. Have a nice day." Snyder's toothy smile was that of a predator who knows his prey is cornered with no way to escape, and then he strutted off. Willow gave a loud sigh of relief.

She set back to work when more ominous shadows appeared, disrupting her efforts.

"It's the Willster!" Buffy said cheeringly, sitting beside Willow and hugging her tightly.

"Hi Buffy. Please let go. Willow can't breathe or concentrate." Willow gasped out.

"Oops. Sorry Will. Whatcha doing?"

"Yeah Will. You look like such a busy beaver we just had to rescue you from that terrible monster called schoolwork." Xander chimed in; sitting beside Willow on the other side of the bench, then thought better of it and sat on the grass.

"Homework. Very busy. Shoo."

"Whatever, Miss Grumpy. We can help. What are friends for?"

"Speaking of a terrible monster, what did the Snydman want anyway?" Xander asked.

"He thinks I'm responsible for infecting the school computer network with a porn virus." Willow answered without looking up.

"You?! My little sweet and pure Willow! Shame on you!" Buffy teased.

"They make porn computer viruses? Where was I when this happened?" Xander wondered.

"Guys. Doing homework." Willow said, pointing at her laptop and giving them the resolve face.

"Fine, we're going. Come on Xander. Our best friend is running us off with the proverbial torches and pitchforks." Buffy said.

"We'll just go find someone who appreciates us for our gratuitous and skillful slacking off. Hmph!" Xander declared mock-snottily. They marched off with their noses in their air. Willow rolled her eyes and mumbled something to herself.

Once again setting to work, her concentration was again shattered like ever so fragile glass.

"Hey Red. Is B around?" Faith asked, walking up to her.

Willow pointed in the direction Buffy and Xander had gone without glancing up from her screen.

"Thanks." As Faith began swaggering off, she walked behind Willow, looked at her screen, and then said, "By the way, you got number 11 wrong." she commented without breaking stride.

As Faith walked off, Willow threw her hands up in the air, turned off her laptop angrily, stuffed it in her bag, then ran around the bench in circles, screaming: "I give up!" at the top of her lungs. People looked at her strangely.

"Hi. What are you doing?" Oz asked as he went up to her.

"Freaking out. Let's just go to class." Willow said, embarrassed.

"Ok." Oz said.

They walked off.

* * *

Giles pulled a couple of volumes out of his private collection in his office, and began to exit. Naturally he was quite unprepared to bump into a hot blonde gal standing in his office doorway (no, not Buffy.)

Startled, Giles jumped backwards and almost tripped over his chair, his books flying out of his desperately clutching hands.

"You're jumpy today. Are you alright?" Helen said, concerned, as she snatched his books out of the air and handed them to him.

"Y-yes. Tried American coffee today. Never make that bloody blunder again. Been wound up all morning. Speaking of which, how did you show up? It's 9 AM."

"Came up through the sewer entrance in the basement." Off Giles' look, she added, "Which you were obviously unaware of."

"Ah. I can't believe I had forgotten that. At any rate, I'm afraid I haven't found anything new on the spell that Ethan used to bring you and Neil and the others here. Where is everyone else, by the way?"

"They're sleeping in Neil at the moment. I still felt sort of wired, so I abstained, wandered around, and ended up here. I sort of figured you hadn't found anything yet, so I swung by to help."

"Excellent. No one else but Willow seems interested in helping to research, so an extra hand is always welcome." He handed her one of the volumes she had caught earlier, and they sat at the table and began poring over the thick books. After a couple of hours, Giles sat back, rubbing his eyes in growing annoyance.

"Nothing?" Helen asked.

"Not at all. I may need to contact the Council. What information I have on soul magic has proved to be sketchy at best. How about you?"

"The same. They need an index and table of contents for these books. It's like trying to find a clean needle in a pile of dirty needles."

"And a bloody editor to snip out all the irrelevant parts." Giles sighed.

"Exactly."

"Time for some tea, I think." He rose and went into his office.

As Helen kept reading, Buffy, Willow, and Oz chose that moment to walk into the library.

"Well, hey. I thought you would be with everybody else maintaining your vigil over Neil." Buffy said in greeting.

"Is he still in the hospital?" Willow asked in concern.

"He should be getting out soon. Book?" She waved one of the discarded thick books at them.

After everyone had taken their seat (and a book), Helen glanced around at them and commented: "Aren't you missing two members of your gang?"

"Cordelia ambushed Xander outside a broom closet and dragged him in. So last year." Willow answered grumpily.

Willow's mood darkened further when Faith came in. Faith spotted Buffy and walked over and was promptly handed a book of her very own before she could say anything. She sat down dejectedly and started flipping through it.

"If I have to be in research hell, so do you, Faith." Buffy said in response to Faith's mood shift.

"I kinda need to talk to you about something, B. Been lookin' for you for two hours." Faith replied.

"Can it wait?" Buffy said distractedly.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Faith tried to sound nonchalant, but a glimmer of hurt appeared in her voice. Willow tried to hide her smile at this. Fortunately for her, Faith didn't notice. Helen did however, and raised an eyebrow at her. Willow's smirk vanished and she kept reading, guilty at having been caught. Buffy and Oz missed the whole exchange, being lost in their own thoughts.

Giles walked out of his office and was pleased to see them researching.

"Right to work, I see. Where are Xander and Cordelia?"

"Broom closet." everyone replied, even Faith (guess she knows the score, huh?)

"So last year." Giles said dryly.

Everyone looked at him like he had just said he milks female kitty cats for fun.

"What? If anyone hangs around you lot long enough, they pick up a few things."

He swaggered back into his office.

"Giles has the cutest ass." Faith whispered, smirking. "Not nearly as cute as Neil's people like Helen here or Neil himself, but nice."

"He does, at that." Helen agreed silently.

"He must work out." Oz said softly.

Willow just squirmed uncomfortably, becoming steadily more discomfited.

"Can we not talk about Giles' butt please?!" Buffy whined vociferously, and then put her hand over her mouth.

"What did you say Buffy?" Giles asked from the office.

"I said, "Wow, Giles sure does work his British butt off! He's an inspiration to us lazy Americans!" Buffy said hurriedly.

"Strange topic of conversation, Buffy."

"Well, you know me. Strange and funny Buffy!" Buffy laughed nervously.

Giles just walked out of his office, smiled at her, shook his head, and walked up the stairs to the second floor of the library.

Everyone except Buffy and Giles (who was out of earshot) started snickering.

"Shush!" Buffy hissed.

* * *

The nurse was checking Neil's vitals closely, so she completely missed the shadows oozing under the door.

As she busied herself about her duties, they edged closer and closer, until they wrapped around her, stifling her screams in an instant.

She met her death in silence as she was consumed by the shadows, never to be seen again.

Neil's dark side reemerged from them once more and stood over Neil as he lay sleeping in bed. She reached out a hand and caressed his forehead. Neil stirred briefly, and then drifted back into slumber. She kissed his head and stood back.

"I think it's time for a little darkness, don't you?" she said. Her hand snaked down and touched his shoulder. Blackness began oozing from her fingertips and spreading through his skin.

"How unfortunate this won't affect your little protectors, but they were never what I was after in the first place, were they? Now say ahhhh."

Neil's eyes snapped open, glowing black.


	3. Chapter 2

Annoyed, Faith walked into the bathroom and went to the toilet.

"What's B's freakin' problem?" she wondered aloud.

"Faith? You okay?" Helen's voice carried from the door.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Wicked fine." Faith grumbled from the stall.

"You don't sound fine."

"I'm fine Mom. Really."

"Funny."

Faith flushed the toilet and came out of the stall, and proceeded to wash her hands at the sink. Helen leaned against the wall and observed her carefully.

The Slayer looked up and saw the concern in Helen's eyes reflected in the mirror. She looked back at the massive blonde and turned back to washing.

"Helen." Faith began.

"Yes?"

She paused, and then said, "Nothing."

"Obviously it's something, Faith." Helen said gently.

"It's just-"Faith started, and then stopped, as if she expected Helen to interrupt her. When she didn't say anything, Faith continued.

"How do you know when you're in love?"

Helen smiled.

"We wanted to have a little girl talk with our favorite bottle blonde, did we?"

Faith smirked at Helen's last comment.

"Bottle blonde? Heh."

"Yep. Puts her in a whole new fake perspective, doesn't it?"

"Oh yeah. I suddenly realized you probably know a lot of B's deep dark secrets."

"A few." Helen replied slyly.

"Suddenly thinkin' I'm strayin' off topic, but we are gonna definitely have a little gossip session later on. You're in love with that tall, hunky stud, right?" Faith asked, turning away from the sink and drying her hands with a paper towel.

Helen nodded.

"So you would know, wouldn't you?"

"To answer your question, I have to ask one of my own. How do you feel when you see her?"

Faith mused on this a moment.

"All warm and tingly inside, like I've got a swarm of bees flyin' around in my stomach, stinging me from the inside, but on second thought, that might be gas pain. She just brightens my day, y'know? Makes me all happy and glowin' inside, like she completes me. Jesus, can I have corn for a 100$ Alex?"

"Except for the possible gastrointestinal distress, I think you described the accurate symptoms of being zapped by Cupid's arrow. Of course in this town, that might be the literal truth." She noticed Faith's confusion and said, "Gastrointestinal distress is a fancy phrase for gas pain."

"Oh. But why me? I'm strictly get some, get gone girl. Want, take, have, girl, not stick around and get dreamy eyed girl. How the hell did this happen?"

"You act like it's a horrible thing. You deserve to be loved Faith. Everybody does."

"There's always an exception to the rule."

"I always kind of thought that line was horseshit."

Faith just blinked in surprise.

"You love her Faith, and she adores you. Don't let your past hold you back. The past is passed. Over and done."

"But everybody I love dies."

"That doesn't mean Athena will though. It's better to risk it and claim happiness, no matter how short or long it lasts, than throw it away and keep hurting yourself over what might have been. Regrets last a lifetime."

"Damn, that's deep, girl."

"The pool of romance is always deep, so be careful, but the rewards are great. It's worth it. Don't be afraid to take a dip."

"Should I pack my water wings?"

"Smartass. You and Athena will get along just fine."

Faith smirked that little smirk of hers.

"I never quite know how to react her sometimes though. She's wicked wacky."

"You'll get used to it. I had to put up with it for years. Athena's nutty like that. She's a nutty ball of fun, like a ball of yarn."

"I'm likin' that image for some reason. I could unwind her all day long."

"Good luck. She's high-strung."

"I noticed. Hyper as hell. Even when fuckin'."

"Not news to me."

Faith raised an eyebrow.

"You and her, huh?"

"Probably all of us at one time or another. She wants to drag us into that BDSM shit."

"Really? Huh." She looked Helen up and down.

"Jesus Christ. You're into that too aren't you?"

Faith nodded eagerly.

"Oh god. You and Athena and Lilith. What's the attraction of it?"

"That really serious chick is into it too? Are any of the guys into it? You could always use a guy in the mix."

"Neil might be. Well, maybe."

"That'll work. Want to hear about my first time?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Nope. See, I met this guy who liked this bullwhip, see, and he would take it and then dress me up as a cheerleader, and then he had to establish fuckin' safety words, and I was like, "what the fuck you goin' on about?", and then-"

Helen groaned and walked out of the bathroom with Faith following, still chattering away gleefully.

* * *

As night fell, Neil's personalities (except Helen of course) emerged from him and snuck from the room, except for Athena, whose turn it was to stand guard.

None of them noticed the spiked black crystals that were sunk into the floor under the bed.

* * *

Lilith and the others were walking past the nurse's station when they overhead one of the nurses complaining.

"Did you know Mary didn't clock out? I had to clock her out. Her shift was over four hours ago!"

"That's not like her." The other nurse at the desk responded.

"I know! She's always been so responsible! Weird."

After giving each other a look, Lilith walked up to the desk and the nurses turned to her.

"May we help you?" the complaining nurse asked.

"One of my friends who is currently a patient here often talked of what a good nurse Mary is, and I feel like I've become her friend through hearing him talk about her. Where was she last seen? I'm concerned."

The nurses looked at each other.

"Well, she apparently was last at Room 314, checking on a Neil Church. I probably shouldn't be giving you this information, but I just feel like I should."

"Me too." the other nurse said.

"Thank you. How helpful you are."

"Y-you're welcome." The nurses said together, and shivered.

When Lilith walked back to the others, the Wonder Woman look-alike said, "Hypnosis?" in a disapproving tone. Lilith gave her a look.

"Yes. She's been here. She's moving faster than I anticipated. It was foolish not to ask for a daytime guard from Elizabeth and the others." Lilith replied as they walked back to Neil's room to inspect it and Neil himself.

When they walked into the room, Athena glanced at them.

"Sleepy so soon?" she quipped.

"Ha ha. Neil's dark side has been in here today." Bellona replied.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Athena asked, rising from her seat.

"Converse later. Investigate now." Lilith directed.

Examining the room and Neil himself for 30 minutes proved fruitless. They even looked under the beds with no luck.

"Now what?" Apollo asked.

"We should leave another guard, but I doubt she will reappear here tonight. She has already accomplished whatever she has set out to do." Lilith said.

"How do you know?" Neptune asked.

"She's not the sort of person who would waste time." Diana (the Wonder Woman look-alike) said in response.

"Precisely." Lilith replied.

"Then the most obvious course of action is step up our search for her." Bellona suggested.

"Agreed. Bellona, since you're the strongest, you should join Athena in watching over Neil this evening. The rest of us should proceed to the library and inform the others of the situation."

Without another word, they left the room and then the hospital, leaving Neil in Athena's and Bellona's care.

"Good luck." Athena said softly to herself.

Unseen by either woman, the mysterious crystals shimmered back into existence underneath the bed.

* * *

"So predictable. Neil is threatened and you close around him like a little flock of sheep." Neil's dark side mused, staring into her ball of energy.

"So this is the fellow you want us to help you kidnap?" The Mayor asked.

"Oh, definitely. After he has served his purpose, and once he has, no one will be able to stop your Ascension."

"That's just great!" The Mayor gushed, giggling.

"This guy is going to allow us to do all that?" Mr. Trick asked.

"Yes. You'll see."

"I know I can't wait!" the Mayor said enthusiastically, almost bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Neither can I. Neil's dark side thought, well aware that Mr. Trick was watching her closely.

"Darn it, I missed a smudge on my shoe! How the heck did that happen?" the Mayor grumbled, taking out a handkerchief and polishing the offending stain with vigor.

Mr. Trick and Neil's dark side rolled their eyes.

* * *

The Scoobies and Helen were well into researching when Lilith and the others walked in with a flourish, catching everyone's attention.

"What's going on?" Helen asked in concern. "Is it…?"

"Neil's dark side has been in his hospital room." Lilith replied bluntly, "And a nurse that was last seen in Neil's room has been missing for four hours."

"Shit." Faith remarked.

"I-I assume you searched his room and found nothing?" Giles asked, getting straight to the point. Lilith nodded.

"I believe spells may be in order to perceive something we may have missed." Lilith said.

"What kind of spell?" Willow inquired.

"A general sensing spell would be adequate. Since tomorrow is a Saturday, Willow and I should go to Neil's room with the necessary materials." Giles explained.

"Why would she go to Neil's room and not krrrkkk?" Cordelia made a cutting motion across her throat.

"Yeah, why not kill him and then just leave? What's up with that?" Xander asked, puzzled.

"If she murders him, she will die herself. She is part of him after all." Lilith replied. "But she has almost certainly accomplished her objective."

"How do you know that?" Buffy asked.

"I fought her back for years. I know how she thinks. But I admit she has taken me by surprise. Even with all of us assisting Buffy and Faith on patrol, we have been unsuccessful in locating her. There is no telling what powers she may wield. She could be observing us at this very moment."

Everyone stirred uncomfortably at this possibility.

"If that is the case, we will need to find a spell to obscure us from her sight." Giles mused thoughtfully, chewing on a tip of his glasses.

"The question, of course, then becomes, what's her plan? And where is she?" Helen asked. Her eyes suddenly widened.

"What is it?" Buffy asked.

"The Mayor." Lilith echoed Helen's thought aloud.

"That's right. He's the Big Bad for this year!" Neptune realized.

"Which would only make sense. He has the greatest resources and influence in town." Diana said.

"Why the Mayor?" Oz asked.

"Yeah. Spill." Buffy said.

"He's planning to Ascend and become a Pure Demon, and then obliterate the town and feast on the populace." Lilith explained.

"Oh." Buffy said in a small voice.

"Pure Demon?" Giles asked.

"All the demons on Earth are human-demon hybrids. A pure demon has no humanity at all in their makeup, and is larger and more dangerous. He needs the Books of Ascension and the Box of Gavrock to reach this state. I would be unsurprised if he has already acquired one of these. Neil's dark side possesses the same knowledge we do, after all."

"But why help him get this stuff? I mean, if he gets all this power, wouldn't he turn on her? She doesn't exactly seem, you know, trustworthy?" Willow put in.

"This is apparently part of her deal in exchange for his assistance. There must be something she wants from him, otherwise why go to him? He almost certainly wouldn't help her without favors in return. The Mayor is too intelligent for that. "

"And you were going to inform us about the Mayor, when, exactly?" Buffy said, annoyed.

Lilith shot her a look.

"I'm informing you now." Lilith said coldly.

"So what else are you not informing us about?" Buffy challenged.

"I believe you are an expert on not informing others about matters they should know about, Elizabeth." Lilith shot back. "So, cease the depleted hypocrite tradition."

"Can I pop you up aside your annoying fucking head now?!" Hera growled at Buffy.

"Buffy." Giles said warningly as Buffy rose from her seat. She sat back down grudgingly.

"Please, let's focus on the matter at hand without reaching for each other's throats, please?" Giles said in a placating tone. "We still need to discover what Neil's dark side has planned for him and all of us. Lilith, since you have confronted her directly, we will be depending on your advice the most concerning her. Obviously, we need a strategy as quickly as possible. Since she has apparently accomplished her objective with Neil, what would most likely be her next step?"

"Turn us against each other by deception and misdirection. An enemy divided is an enemy that will fall quickly. If any of us have any dark secrets, they will be used as ammunition in this cause. And she will undoubtedly attempt to utilize Neil against us in some manner. These are strategies she has used before." Lilith explained.

"Yeah, but she probably knows you know that, right? She'll probably try something new this time, don't you think?" Xander pointed out.

"Possibly. She is already one step ahead of us. Obviously, she has done something to Neil by now, perhaps preparing him for some sort of control or corruption."

"Whatever she has done, it hasn't seemed to affect any of us, or at least me. Does anyone feel any different?" Diana asked.

Neil's other personalities shook their heads.

"I guess breaking into the Mayor's building is out of the question?" Neptune asked.

"Too likely we will run afoul of the authorities. He is an authority, after all." Lilith replied.

"I'm forced to agree. Such overt maneuvers are out of the question at this time, but we do need to ascertain if he has all the items he needs for Ascension." Giles said.

"Stake-out?" Xander said, interested.

"What do you think this is, Miami Vice?" Cordelia said, elbowing him in the ribs. Xander rubbed his side with a wounded look.

"How long has he been preparing for Ascension anyway?" Willow wondered.

"A century." Lilith said bluntly. The Scoobies' eyes widened.

"This dude's a hundred years old? Damn." Faith said in wonderment.

"Boy, I need his health plan." Xander joked.

"Focus Xander." Buffy said, poking him in the shoulder hard. Poor Xander was now rubbing his shoulder and side.

"Quite. We need to research into magics that will allow us to screen ourselves and see inside the Mayor's office building, but it is possible he may have magical defenses erected against such intrusion if he has been preparing for this for so long. Why has he waited so long, by the way?"

"Unknown. It was never explained on the show. But we need to deal with this as quickly as possible, as he eventually works a ritual to make himself unkillable at some point in preparation." Lilith replied.

"Well, ain't that great?" Faith commented.

"Why does he need to be unkillable for the Ascension? Just for protection, or something else?" Oz asked.

"Another mystery that was never explained, but it may have something to do with the physical strain of changing into a Pure Demon, or the Box of Gavrock. There are fifty billion large insect-like creatures inside, and he needs to consume some of them to further the process after becoming invulnerable."

"He needs to eat big demon bugs?" Buffy asked, making a face.

"That's really wicked gross!" Faith laughed.

"Yuck! Why do I hang around you people?" Cordelia exclaimed in disgust.

"Well, I've read bugs are high in protein." Willow said helpfully.

"I didn't need to hear that Will. Now I'm going to have nightmares about eating bugs all night." Xander grumbled.

"I though it was insightful." Oz said.

"Children, please." Giles chided.

"Moving on," Lilith prodded, becoming seriously annoyed, "the Box of Gavrock or Books of Ascension must be captured as swiftly as possible. In the show, he received the Box of Gavrock through the airport, at night. The Books are unquestionably here in Sunnydale, come to think of it, so if he has one of the pieces, that is most likely it."

"Then the airport should be our primary objective, but if she is observing us…"

"We should cover other areas as well. Excellent idea." Lilith and Giles smiled at each other knowingly.

"Do you two need a room?" Faith smirked.

"And have a private meeting?" Buffy teased.

"Yes, that is precisely what this meeting needs, American teenage hormones on parade." Giles said dryly.

"Anyway, back on topic," Diana said, "we require at least two people to stake out each area where the Box of Gavrock might arrive, and someone should stay here and safeguard Giles and the others. There's no telling what she might attempt in the meantime."

"I guess that should be one of us. Buffy and Faith need to patrol." Helen pointed out.

"Agreed. We'll "stake out" the airport and other areas while the Slayers patrol." Lilith said.

"And we will stay and research. I can't think of a better way to spend my night." Giles said happily. Everyone gave him an amused look. "Well, pardon me for enjoying a good read." Giles huffed. He got up and walked up to the second floor and started pulling out books.

"Hey, you said stake-out. I contributed? Cool." Xander commented with a goofy grin on his face.

"Yeah, but the question is, contributed what, exactly?" Faith said, poking Xander in his nipple.

"Ow! What am I, the Pillsbury Doughboy?!" Xander complained.

"Don't poke my boyfriend, you hussy!" Cordelia growled.

"You weren't whinin' when B poked him earlier!" Faith replied hotly, "you rich stuck-up bitch!"

"Yeah, but Buffy is like a nun. I know she won't try anything!" Cordelia shot back.

"Hey! How the hell am I like a nun?" Buffy snapped.

"Because you never date since Scott Hope dumped you, you just sit and mope at home all day and night!" Cordelia sneered.

"She's got a point B." Faith acknowledged.

"You can quit talking now, _F_."

"Heh heh, like a nun." Willow chuckled. Buffy gave her a death glare and Willow stuck her nose back in her book.

Rolling their eyes dramatically, Giles pulled out more books and Neil's personalities headed for the doors, deciding to leave Neptune guarding. The arguing Slayers and Cordy didn't even notice. Xander, caught in the middle, sank down in his seat.

* * *

Once they had exited the school, they briefly teleported inside Neil at the hospital, had a brief conversation, and then materialized back outside the school again, morphed into bats, and flew off in all directions.

Observing in her energy ball, Neil's dark side raised an eyebrow at this maneuver.

"Covering all your bases I see, but what was the point of going inside Neil and out again? Such clever little children to pull that little trick, for I didn't overhear what you said while you were in Neil, but I have some small tricks of my own."

Her dead eyes swirled with shadows as she prepared her surprise.


	4. Chapter 3

Arriving at the bus depot, Ares and Hera shifted back to human form behind the building and proceeded to the front of the bus station.

"How the fuck do we know what to look for? A suspicious person carrying a chest?" Hera asked.

"How about a vampire instead?" Ares said, pointing.

Sure enough, there was a vampire walking out of the bus station with the Box in hand. She noticed them and fled.

In hot pursuit, Ares and Hera ran after the vampire, only to be stopped by a crackling swirl of energy that formed itself into Neil's dark side. She smiled at them.

"Are we departing somewhere?"

"Get going, Red, I can handle this bitch." Hera growled at Ares. Ares dodged around her without reply and kept running after the fleeing undead monster.

Hera moved her neck back and forth and said, "Let's get it on bitch."

* * *

Apollo and Zeus strode onto the dock and glanced around.

"See anything, dude?" Zeus asked Apollo.

"I don't see shit." Apollo replied. He looked up at the freighter docked at port, and saw two unsavory men walking down the ramp, one of them carrying the Box.

"Well, that was fucking easy." Zeus commented.

"Too fucking easy." Apollo said in response.

As they moved toward the men, Neil's dark side suddenly flipped from off the freighter's deck and landed in front of them, blocking their way.

"I'm afraid I can't let you have that Box gentlemen."

Zeus and Apollo didn't waste time. They charged her.

* * *

Walking through the airport gates, Taryn, Lilith, and Artemis cast a careful look around the airfield.

"This is a lot of damn ground to cover." Artemis observed.

"Agreed. As loathe as I am to do so, we may need to split up-"Lilith began.

"Heads up." Taryn interrupted, putting a hand on Lilith's muscular shoulder and gesturing with the other.

Following Taryn's gesture, they witnessed two women carrying the Box across the airstrip.

Hurrying towards them, the three amazonian women jumped back when from the shadows emerged Neil's dark side. She waggled her finger at them in an "I don't think so!" motion.

"Greetings. Why Lilith, how I've missed you. Really."

"How unfortunate I can't say the same."

Neil's dark side sneered as Taryn and Lilith sprang at her and Artemis ran after the Box and its carriers.

* * *

Moving carefully through the bushes and trees opposite City Hall, Helen and Diana settled into position.

"Anything?" Helen inquired.

"Not yet." Diana answered. She paused for a moment. Both women saw a truck pull up and two vampires unload the Box from the back. Giving each other a look, they crept across the street until they were directly behind them and staked them quickly with stakes they pulled from their belts. Helen picked up the Box.

"Well, that was simple." Helen said in surprise.

Unfortunately they didn't see the fists which struck her and Diana in the jaw and sent them flying across the road, forcing Helen to lose her grip on the Box. Neil's dark side ran after them and took a hold of it, and prepared to escape, but only managed two steps before Helen swept her legs out from under her. Rolling away, she sprang to her feet and faced them.

"Nothing is ever simple, my dear, sweet, little Helen." Neil's dark side taunted.

"Kicking your ass should be pretty simple!" Helen retorted.

Without another word, Diana and Helen attacked, preventing their nemesis from retreating.

* * *

"Boy, that's a relief! Felt like I was floating there for a minute." Xander said in a relieved tone as he walked out of the men's room, only to bump into the last person he wanted to see.

"Hello." Neil's dark side said cheeringly.

"Eep." Xander squeaked.

Fortunately for Xander, Neptune picked that exact moment to walk around the corner to check on him.

* * *

"B, aren't we supposed to be, like patrolling? Not heading to City Hall?" Faith asked.

"I follow my gut, Faith, not orders. Besides, Neil's dark side knows everything Neil's personalities do. She probably figured out a way to get the Box past them and to there, so we're gonna catch her in the act."

"Whatever."

"I know what's best Faith, trust me." Buffy said, leading the way ahead of Faith. When they came in sight of City Hall, both Slayers froze.

There was a full-fledged fight scene going on, with Helen and Diana trying to take Neil's dark side down.

"Is that it?" Faith pointed at the Box lying on the ground.

"Must be, she's obviously attempting to keep them from it. Come on!" Buffy and Faith ran towards the battle.

* * *

Dance my sweet puppets dance. Neil's dark side thought gleefully.

* * *

Damn, this fucking vamp is fast! Ares thought. She was definitely gaining on him, jumping over cars and darting around corners in frantic attempts to evade him.

Fuck this.

Retrieving a stake from his pocket, he aimed carefully and threw it with unerring accuracy. It sailed through the air and struck the vamp in her heart from behind with bone-shattering force. It dusted instantly, and the Box dropped to the ground. He ran toward it as fast as his legs could carry him.

He wasn't in time to prevent some fucking idiot from running it over with his truck though.

* * *

Hera landed a couple of punches on her foe, only for her to catch the third and smash Hera through a window.

"You can "handle me", can you?" Neil's dark side snorted, only to receive a kick to the mouth.

"How about less of your fucking mouth and more of me kicking your irritating ass up and down this fucking street?!" Hera snarled.

* * *

Colliding with the evil woman, Apollo and Zeus found themselves being hurled backwards into stacks of crates, smashing most of them into kindling. Getting to their feet, they were the unhappy recipients of a spin kick to the face, knocking them down again.

Meanwhile, the two men had gotten into a waiting car and were driving away, picking up speed.

Acting on instinct, they kicked their overconfident enemy's feet out from under her and hurled some of the intact crates at the escaping vehicle. Driving wildly to avoid the projectiles, they lost control and sailed into the ocean, getaway car and all.

Acting on a quick glance from each other, Zeus ran toward the spot where the car vanished into the sea, but Neil's dark side barred his way.

"And where do you thin-"

She never finished her sentence, because Apollo punched her in the gut and thrust his foot into her face, knocking her on her ass, and Zeus hopped over her prone form and dived into the dark waters.

Flipping to an erect stance, Neil's dark side gave Apollo the evil eye.

"Sent your boyfriend to do your dirty work, did you? How distressing you will soon be his ex."

Apollo's only response was a forearm to her nose.

* * *

Taryn and Lilith uppercutted Neil's dark side together, sending her smashing into the side of a nearby hangar, denting the metal. However, she recovered quickly, and leaping at and seizing Taryn, threw her at Lilith, who casually caught her lover, and kicked her opponent's kneecap, buckling her leg, leaving her open to a Taryn haymaker which smashed the monstrous woman completely through the wall!

Tearing through an undamaged part of the wall, she hefted a drum of aviation fuel over her head and tossed it at them. They leapt aside and narrowly dodged the explosion.

"Still living, how very bothersome." Neil's dark side chuckled as Lilith and Taryn clambered to their feet.

"We're so regretful to dissatisfy you. Perchance we can make it up to you." Lilith sneered, and then she and Taryn violently counterattacked, keeping her off balance, before finally grabbing and throwing the evil bitch into the fire that she had created.

And then they realized their mistake as she ran out of the inferno, fully ablaze, before finally collapsing on the runway.

* * *

Artemis picked a heavy metal rod and cast it at her quarry's legs, sending them tumbling into a heap. Reaching them at last, she put the Box on her shoulder and backed away in preparation to leave, only to have the two vampiresses headbutt her in her ripped stomach. Grunting in pain, she smashed the Box in both their demonic faces, knocking them unconscious, then taking hold of the Box in one hand, she pulled her stake with the other and dusted them both.

Walking back to the others, she paused when she saw the burning body on the pavement.

"Is that-?"

"Yes." Lilith replied somberly.

"If she's dead, why aren't we vanishing?" Artemis wondered.

Lilith looked at the roasting corpse, troubled, before saying: "We need to return to the library, now."

"What are you thinking?" Artemis questioned.

"I'm thinking we've been had."

* * *

Receiving a double kick from Helen and Diana, Neil's dark side slammed into the truck door, before rising, snatching the truck, and trying to bring it down on top of them. Nimbly dodging the attempted crushing, they elbowed her in the sides of her head, sending her staggering backward, but she quickly retaliated with a roundhouse kick to their heads, sending them sprawling.

She turned toward her prize, and was enthusiastically greeted with a Buffy punch to the face. Shaking that off, she rammed Buffy's cranium into the side of the truck, before tossing her aside. Helen and Diana tackled her from behind, but she buckled them off, palm-striking Diana in the nose, knocking her down, before placing her hands around Helen's throat, preparing to snap her neck, until Faith's boot made itself known, kicking Neil's dark side in the throat and off Helen.

"Get away from her, you fucking cunt!" Faith hissed.

Roaring in anger, she grasped Faith's neck instead. Faith struggled uselessly against her superior strength.

"Perhaps I will crack your pretty little neck instead my dear!" Neil's dark side spat in Faith's agonized features, grinning maliciously.

Helen's fist spoke volumes of what it thought of that idea. The enraged blow spun her completely around, freeing Faith, and then Diana's nasty left hook knocked her out cold, sending her spinning in mid-air to finally fall to the unforgiving pavement face-first.

"You okay?" Diana and Helen asked Faith and Buffy.

"Yeah. Man, that bitch can grip." Faith grimaced, massaging her sore neck.

"Anyone get the number of that dinosaur that tried to stomp my brains in?" Buffy moaned, rubbing her head.

Hearing a vampire growl from behind them, they looked over their shoulders to see a crowd of vampires emerge from the City Hall building.

"Time to go!" Helen announced, reacquiring the Box. They all piled into the truck, which Faith quickly hotwired, and they sped away, leaving the vamps behind.

Of course, in their haste, none of them noticed another truck pull up to the building, and an identical Box unloaded.

* * *

Neil's dark side hit a series of punch combos to Neptune's face, but he parried the last and kneed her in the abs and socked her right between the eyes.

Xander kept acting like he wanted to jump in, but then continued backing up repeatedly.

Willow, Oz, Cordelia, and Giles ran around the corner, weapons in hand. Giles waited until Neptune was clear, and fired a crossbow bolt at Neil's dark side. She caught it with ease, smirked, and cast it at back at him. Giles' eyes widened until Neptune caught it and stabbed her in the shoulder with it. She casually looked at the offending object sticking out of her shoulder and smiled at him.

"Was that supposed to harm me? It sort of tickles."

Then she grabbed his head and shoved it through the lockers. He collapsed to the floor.

Raising her muscular leg to crush his face, she was suddenly hit with a flying desk, courtesy of Xander. She looked at him in annoyance.

"Oh please."

Giles, Oz, Cordelia, and Willow ran up to her and swung their weapons at her, only for her to disarm them with ease and knock them backwards. Xander tried a full out rush only to be seized and thrown into the rest of the Scoobies.

Smiling in a predatory fashion, she advanced on them when Neptune grabbed her from behind and threw her through the school doors, knocking them off their hinges.

Getting back up, she faced them once more.

"It's been fun children, but I really must be running along. Ta ta."

The darkness swallowed her up and she was gone.

The bolt dropped to the pavement with a clink.

* * *

Zeus popped out of the water with Box in hand and prepared to clamber up the dock to the top, only for Apollo to land on top of him and send him back under.

"And that is that." She wiped her hands and strutted off, just to suddenly bump into Zeus and Apollo, soaking wet and fully vamped out. Zeus nearly shattered the Box over her skull, and Apollo yanked her hair back and tossed her cocky ass into the drink.

"Now it's your turn to get fucking wet." Zeus said smugly.

"And that is that." Apollo mimicked.

They strutted off.

* * *

Both Hera and Neil's dark side circled each other warily, bearing signs of their struggle, battered and bruised and bloody. Hera casually spit blood out of her mouth before once again commencing the attack, forcing her into an alley.

The two women traded blows until Neil's dark side threw dirt into Hera's eyes, and taking immediate advantage, slammed the smaller woman into the walls over and over again, at least until Hera utilized her potent lower limbs to propel herself backwards and do a little wall slamming of her own, loosening her grip.

Quickly recuperating, she swiftly snatched Hera's hair; and rammed her knee in her face, knocking her to the ground. But before she could do anything further, Ares shoved her into the wall with his free hand. She struck him with a spinning backfist and knocked him on his back. Picking him up, she prepared to send him into the wall, only to receive a surprise gift from Hera in the form of a dumpster which flattened her against the back of the alley!

Hera advanced on her only for Ares to wave her off.

"Come on, we got what we came for. Let's jet."

Hera backed off reluctantly and followed her boyfriend, and gave one last parting shot as they left:

"I'll see your pathetic ass later, you worthless cunt."

She flipped her the bird and they ran off with the Box in tow.

* * *

Everyone was tending to their bumps and bruises when Faith, Buffy, Diana, and Helen walked through the swinging library doors. They stopped in shock at the sight of their battered friends and allies. Helen sat the Box on the counter and ran up to check on Neptune.

"What happened?" Buffy asked worriedly, "Is everyone alright?"

"We had a wonderful visit from Neil's worse half." Giles explained.

The Slayers and Diana and Helen looked at each other.

"What is it?" Willow asked, looking from one woman to the other.

"We were just battling her at City Hall." Diana explained.

"She can be in two places at once?" Oz commented.

"Remarkable. And potentially terrifying." Giles said in the understatement of the year.

"Why did you go to City Hall?" Cordelia asked, "Didn't we all agree that was a crazy idea?"

"We figured there was a possibility she might find some other route and bypass us, so we thought we would head her off at the pass, so to speak." Helen said.

"See, that was my idea, but Faith was all like, "whatever B", blah blah blah." Faith just rolled her eyes in response.

"Buffy, shush." Diana scolded her.

"You're not my mother! You can't tell me to shush!"

"If I were your mother, I might be sorely tempted to turn you over my knee."

Buffy stuck her tongue out at her and sat down at the table. Diana sighed in exasperation.

"I see Buffy took her immature pills this morning." Helen commented. Buffy stuck her tongue out at her too. Faith smirked at Helen's comment and Buffy's reaction.

Xander and Willow started giggling. Buffy gave them a look.

"Whose side are you on?" Buffy griped at them.

"Sorry Buff, that was funny." Xander apologized.

"Yeah, come on, Buffy, Buff it up. Buff it up." Willow giggled at her little joke.

"Have you two been drinking too much mocha again?" Buffy said.

"Xander always acts like he's drunk too much caffeine." Cordelia said snidely.

"Hey!" Xander yelled.

Giles began opening his mouth to reprimand them when Ares and Hera walked through the doors with a slightly smushed Box of their own.

"Hey all. We got the Box, even if some dumbass drove over it with his truck." Ares paused when he saw the Box sitting on the counter. Hera paused as well.

"What the fuck is going on?" Hera growled.

They all looked from the Box on the counter to Ares' and Hera's Box and back again.

"It looks like you brought in two identical Boxes." Oz said.

"Exactly how many Boxes of Gravbax are there anyway?" Buffy asked.

"Gavrock." Giles corrected. "My research into the Box that I was performing while we were investigating possible counterspells says there is only one. So one of these must be fake."

"I believe all the ones we possess are fakes." Lilith said as she, Taryn, and Artemis strode through the doors, carrying another Box.

"My word." Giles said.

"That means Apollo and Zeus is going to be coming through those doors any minute with a fakey Box of their very own?" Willow asked.

"It would seem so." Lilith agreed. Artemis dropped her Box in disgust.

"So I got my little head rammed into the side of a truck and a happy headache for nothing?" Buffy said, irritated.

"Looks like it, B."

"Great."

"So what now?" Xander asked.

"Now we are back at square one. She has the real Box." Lilith sighed. "I assume she attacked everyone tonight, trying to prevent them from acquiring the Box?"

"Big time." Ares answered.

"Yes." Diana replied.

"We were besieged as well." Giles put in.

"Then that proves it without a shadow of doubt. She can observe us."

"This would seem to be definite proof." Giles agreed.

"So how can we beat her if she can see and hear everything we say? She's like a stalker." Cordelia observed.

"The answer is simple. We can't." Lilith said pointedly. "And she undoubtedly assaulted here in order to disrupt research into sorcerous countermeasures."

"What can we do Giles, if she has the power to do all that?" Buffy asked.

Giles pondered on this for a moment, and then responded: "I believe it's time to contact the Council and make use of their expertise."

Apollo and Zeus walked in with a Box, noticed the other Boxes, and began to open their mouths, only to be interrupted with a chorus of "It's a fake. They're all fakes." in infuriated tones.

"So we got wet for nothing?" Zeus said in disbelief.

"That's the funny size and goofy shape of it." Xander replied in a depressed voice.

The girls were too busy checking out the drenched Apollo and Zeus to offer a reply.

"Buffy, Cordelia, Willow, and Faith, please stop staring at the handsome soaked gentlemen and set yourselves back to task. Willow, please fire up the computer and start browsing for any possible counterspells right away. Everyone else please, get yourselves a book." Giles ordered.

"We're going to have a long night ahead."

He proceeded into his office to phone the Council.


	5. Epilogue

"So you pulled your plan off, without any problems?" the Mayor asked.

"Most definitely. The real Box is yours, my dear Richard. Now all we have to do is wait until the appointed time."

"Gotta say, I'm impressed. That was a beautiful piece of plannin'." Mr. Trick remarked.

"I have to agree! Haven't been this chipper in a while! Time for some cookies and milk! The ones with those nummy chocolate chips!" the Mayor said, practically performing a happy little dance behind his desk. He turned and started raiding his cabinet and fridge.

Neil's dark side and Mr. Trick gave each other a look, got out of their chairs, and filed out of the office.

The Mayor noticed them leaving, shrugged, and said: "Well that just leaves more for me!"

He dipped one of the cookies in his milk, put a napkin on his desk to catch any crumbs, set his milk glass down on it, and took a bite.

"Delicious!"

* * *

And in Neil's hospital room, the menacing crystals bided their time.

And waited.

**The End?**

(Roll End Credits Here)


End file.
